The severe wind outbreak of May 31, 2023

01

The day in numbers

Wind reports

57

on Wednesday, May 31, 2023

75 mph or more

26

25 of 86 mph (75 knots) or more

Strongest measured gust

77 mph

67 knots, Loving County, TX

Measured

25

reports with an instrument reading; the rest are estimates from damage

Killed by wind

0

0 injured

Counties reporting

22

in 10 states

02

Hour by hour

Damaging wind reports in each hour, Central Daylight Time.

03

The strongest winds

The 57 strongest reports with a speed. Measured gusts come from an instrument; estimated speeds are judged from damage.

Strongest wind reports, May 31, 2023

Time, CDT	Where	Speed	Knots	Type	Killed
5:12 PM	Lea County NM	130 mph	113	Estimated	0
5:10 PM	Lea County NM	125 mph	109	Estimated	0
5:12 PM	Lea County NM	125 mph	109	Estimated	0
5:10 PM	Lea County NM	119 mph	103	Estimated	0
5:47 PM	Lea County NM	119 mph	103	Estimated	0
5:47 PM	Lea County NM	119 mph	103	Estimated	0
5:41 PM	Lea County NM	115 mph	100	Estimated	0
5:47 PM	Lea County NM	112 mph	97	Estimated	0
5:47 PM	Lea County NM	112 mph	97	Estimated	0
5:21 PM	Lea County NM	110 mph	96	Estimated	0
5:22 PM	Lea County NM	110 mph	96	Estimated	0
5:24 PM	Lea County NM	110 mph	96	Estimated	0
5:30 PM	Lea County NM	110 mph	96	Estimated	0
5:47 PM	Lea County NM	110 mph	96	Estimated	0
5:48 PM	Lea County NM	110 mph	96	Estimated	0
5:30 PM	Lea County NM	100 mph	87	Estimated	0
5:30 PM	Lea County NM	100 mph	87	Estimated	0
5:30 PM	Lea County NM	100 mph	87	Estimated	0
5:32 PM	Lea County NM	100 mph	87	Estimated	0
5:41 PM	Lea County NM	100 mph	87	Estimated	0
5:41 PM	Lea County NM	100 mph	87	Estimated	0
5:42 PM	Lea County NM	100 mph	87	Estimated	0
5:42 PM	Lea County NM	100 mph	87	Estimated	0
5:44 PM	Lea County NM	96 mph	83	Estimated	0
5:18 PM	Lea County NM	90 mph	78	Estimated	0
4:00 PM	Loving County TX	77 mph	67	Measured	0
4:55 PM	Weld County CO	70 mph	61	Estimated	0
5:18 PM	Weld County CO	70 mph	61	Estimated	0
4:30 PM	Lea County NM	64 mph	56	Measured	0
4:58 PM	Weld County CO	64 mph	56	Measured	0
6:10 PM	Caddo County OK	64 mph	56	Measured	0
6:16 PM	Weld County CO	64 mph	56	Measured	0
6:28 PM	Laramie County WY	64 mph	56	Measured	0
8:20 PM	Randall County TX	63 mph	55	Measured	0
3:45 PM	Kane County IL	61 mph	53	Measured	0
4:55 PM	Mesa County CO	61 mph	53	Measured	0
1:35 AM	Ellis County OK	60 mph	52	Measured	0
1:51 PM	Deuel County SD	60 mph	52	Measured	0
3:16 PM	Hartley County TX	60 mph	52	Measured	0
4:16 PM	Moore County TX	60 mph	52	Measured	0
5:15 PM	Weld County CO	60 mph	52	Measured	0
9:23 PM	Hutchinson County TX	60 mph	52	Measured	0
9:23 PM	Moore County TX	60 mph	52	Measured	0
12:45 PM	Douglas County MO	60 mph	52	Estimated	0
3:07 PM	Kendall County IL	60 mph	52	Estimated	0
6:34 PM	Laramie County WY	60 mph	52	Estimated	0
7:20 PM	Millard County UT	60 mph	52	Estimated	0
1:20 AM	Ellis County OK	59 mph	51	Measured	0
4:17 PM	Sherman County TX	59 mph	51	Measured	0
6:00 PM	Caddo County OK	59 mph	51	Measured	0
6:46 PM	Deaf Smith County TX	59 mph	51	Measured	0
6:46 PM	Deaf Smith County TX	59 mph	51	Measured	0
4:55 PM	Texas County OK	58 mph	50	Measured	0
6:05 PM	Caddo County OK	58 mph	50	Measured	0
7:50 PM	Oldham County TX	58 mph	50	Measured	0
8:54 PM	Potter County TX	58 mph	50	Measured	0
1:54 PM	Dodge County WI	58 mph	50	Estimated	0

Show all 57 rows

04

By state

Severe weather reports by state, May 31, 2023

State	Wind reports	Strongest measured	Hail reports	Largest hail, in
New Mexico	26	64 mph	10	1.50
Texas	11	77 mph	2	1.00
Colorado	6	64 mph	0	—
Oklahoma	6	64 mph	0	—
Illinois	2	61 mph	0	—
Wyoming	2	64 mph	0	—
South Dakota	1	60 mph	6	2.75
Wisconsin	1	—	5	1.00
Missouri	1	—	0	—
Utah	1	—	0	—
Iowa	0	—	2	0.88
Minnesota	0	—	1	0.75

Counties with the most wind reports

• Lea CountyNM · 26 reports
• Weld CountyCO · 5 reports
• Caddo CountyOK · 3 reports
• Moore CountyTX · 2 reports
• Ellis CountyOK · 2 reports
• Deaf Smith CountyTX · 2 reports
• Laramie CountyWY · 2 reports
• Kendall CountyIL · 1 report
• Kane CountyIL · 1 report
• Mesa CountyCO · 1 report

05

Hail and tornadoes that day

26 hail reports, 1 of 2 inches or more; 3 tornadoes.

Largest hail, May 31, 2023

Time, CDT	Where	Size, in
4:00 PM	Custer County SD	2.75
4:13 PM	Custer County SD	1.75
7:50 PM	Chaves County NM	1.50
3:41 PM	Chaves County NM	1.25
3:43 PM	Custer County SD	1.25
3:50 PM	Custer County SD	1.25
4:03 PM	Custer County SD	1.25
7:47 PM	Roosevelt County NM	1.25
5:18 AM	Randall County TX	1.00
2:04 PM	Outagamie County WI	1.00
3:35 PM	Chaves County NM	1.00
3:50 PM	Custer County SD	1.00
3:50 PM	Chaves County NM	1.00
4:17 PM	Waukesha County WI	1.00
4:25 PM	Torrance County NM	1.00
5:12 PM	De Baca County NM	1.00
5:19 PM	Bernalillo County NM	1.00
7:48 PM	Roosevelt County NM	1.00
1:49 PM	Waukesha County WI	0.88
2:48 PM	Brown County WI	0.88
3:49 PM	Sioux County IA	0.88
4:46 PM	Walworth County WI	0.88
5:35 PM	St. Louis County MN	0.75
7:23 PM	Torrance County NM	0.75
8:20 PM	O'Brien County IA	0.75
8:39 PM	Potter County TX	0.75

Show all 26 rows

• EFU tornado3:50 PM CDT
• EFU tornado4:42 PM CDT
• EFU tornado5:52 PM CDT

2023 · On this date in other years · The biggest severe wind days

1. A report is a single damage or measurement report to the National Weather Service. Several reports can describe one gust front, so reports are not storms.
2. Reporting has grown with population, spotter networks and the internet, so counts from different decades are not directly comparable.
3. Thunderstorm wind reports start at 50 knots (58 mph). SPC began flagging measured against estimated speeds in 2006; earlier reports are shown as estimated.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1955 to 2025. A day is SPC’s calendar date in Central Standard Time; a severe wind day here has 300 or more damaging wind reports, or 15 or more of 75 knots (86 mph) or more.